House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said March 26 that he is working with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) on a short-term patch to the Highway Trust Fund to allow more time to work on tax reform, Politico reported.

“If tax reform is going to be a piece of the highway bill, we’re going to need to go past May 31,” Ryan said. “It is just not conceivable [by] the way this place works that we’ll get it done by then.”

Rep. Ryan did not indicate the length of an extension or how it would be paid for, Politico reported.

Rep. Ryan has said previously that overall corporate tax reform is the key to fixing the Highway Trust Fund and that short-term tax holidays and repatriation won’t work.

Rep. Ryan’s comments came just days after Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch said he is unsure whether his panel will mark up tax reform legislation this year.

Sen. Hatch had set a goal of marking up a tax overhaul bill this year. Working groups have been examining various segments of the Tax Code, including infrastructure, and are aiming to produce recommendations by the end of May.

Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman

Tiffany Wlazlowski Neuman develops and executes communications strategies to advance NATSO’s public relations and advocacy goals. Tiffany also develops and oversees partnerships related to the NATSO Foundation’s public outreach initiatives. Tiffany lives in the D.C. metro area with her husband and their two sons.More